𝐃𝐄𝐏𝐑𝐀𝐕𝐄𝐃

16

HER PREDATOR

At the end of the work day, Casei text me once I got back home. She told me about what her, Naryna, and Channin had discussed at lunch today.

They were caught up on everything and Naryna and Channin were split: Channin believed that Maeve possibly had a hand in the accident while Naryna didn't believe it.

Regardless, nobody may ever know if Maeve was involved since the driver behind Chocolate had sped off once all the cars had piled up that night.

My parent's weren't home for once, and it was a good feeling. I put my things up and changed into some comfy clothes around the house. Excitement was flowing through me like blood, as I made my way downstairs to the basement.

I unlocked the door down there, walking into the unfinished mess. At one point, my dad was supposed to be turning it into a man cave, but then three different contractors told him his ideal floor plans wouldn't work out with the structure of our place and he plain just gave up on the idea.

Now, this was my cozy place to escape to. I sprayed it down regularly with all types of bug sprays and laid down bug bombs, and I kept it spider web free, although I left everything in place as it had been when I first tip toed my way down here some years ago.

Discarded wooden planks, old tools my dad never got around to using, an empty work table.

I went behind one of the many crates lining the walls, using my phone as a flashlight, as I came up on a dead cat. I bent down besides it and pulled out my gloves from my back pocket. I slipped them on, propping my phone against something as I covered my hands.

I moved the crate back some more and drug the dead animal by the tail towards me. I already had a bandana tied over my nose but it honestly wasn't doing much to mask the stench.

Some things that I knew about the cat: it didn't have an owner, it probably would have been killed anyways, and it had been deceased for more than a week.

I haven't named her yet, I thought to myself as I softly touched her mangled fur. The rough drops of blood stuck the tufts of fur together, and the way her eyes were left wide open, the way...

My phone buzzed on the floor, falling onto its face as my mom called. I slipped off one glove, standing up from my crouched position and answering it.

"Yeah?"

"Hey. I'm about three minutes away. Put some shoes on and help me pack the groceries in."

"Okay," I told her.

"You're breakin' up. Is it my connection?"

I looked around, like she could see me down here or something. "Nah, it's uh, prolly just the house."

"I paid for all the wifi stuff this month, it should be on automatic pay," I could hear the frown in her voice, "Well, okay. I'm about to pull up, Lowen."

"Okay," I said.

"Okay," she said.

Once my mom had hung up, I hid the cat back behind its crate, took off both my gloves and left the basement. I threw my bandana down on my bed upstairs and threw some water over my face. I slid on my slides and opened up the garage just as my mom pulled into our long driveway.

"Thanks," my mom said as she got out of her Range Rover, popping her trunk open. She was wearing some of those brightly colored Lululemon leggings the women around here liked to wear and a sports bra.

"I ran into H-E-B after my workout," she explained, "Here, take this case of water into the kitchen," she directed.

After we had all of the groceries put up, my mom went upstairs to shower and I accepted defeat for the day. I likely wouldn't be left here by myself for a few more days and my window to deal with the cat was starting to close.